Airzound prevented serious injury to myself & a jaywalking kid.

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N_C

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Falkon

Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way, even if he's J-walking. Try STOPPING next time. You saw him start running across you should start your braking right then. So all us cyclists get in a huff because cars would rather blow by us than be delayed for 5 seconds, but here you'd rather nearly hit the kid than be delayed two seconds if you stopped?

EnigManiac

While what Falkon says is absolutely correct: pedestrians have the right of way and it is the responsibility of vehicle operators to stop when an obstacle appears, regardless of what---or who---it is, perhaps for the first time that I've seen, you make some valid observations: the father made some serious errors in judgement. He placed himself and his kids needlessly in danger. It may have seemed that there was no danger with no cars visibly nearby, but we all know cars and trucks have a mysterious way of suddenly appearing out of driveways, alleys and parking lots, especially when there is an empty stretch of road. For the sake of an additional 30 feet, there was no excuse for him not to cross at the cross-walk, both as a lesson to the kids and for caution sake. Allowing his boy to run across the road (didn't his mother ever teach him never to run across roads?) and not warning his boy when HE recognized danger---we've already covered YOU recognizing danger---was simply negligent and irresponsible, IMHO and startling him by shouting, regardless whom he was shouting at (still would have startled the boy) compounded the danger. Lastly---something you didn't mention---he discounted the cyclist (you) and dismissed the danger that a moderately fast moving vehicle could cause to his children and you or the evasive maneouvers he was forcing you to take (and thereby endangering you) as being unimportant.

You're right on all accounts, N_C: the father messed up, but we can't correct poor parenting,legislate common sense, blame others or change their actions, we can only be responsible for our own behaviour and rather than taking note of all that the father was doing wrong, consider what we, ourselves, are doing wrong while adding up all the errors in judgement others are making.

Blue Order

I jaywalk all the time-- usually at an intersection when no cars are approaching, rarely midblock. However, if there are children at the intersection, I wait for the light, because I don't want to set a bad example for them. I know the difference between when it is safe for me to cross and when it's not safe for me to cross. They don't know, because their parents are teaching them. So instead of setting a bad example, I wait.

My impression of what you described is the father is setting a bad example for his children, and he's failing to supervise his children as they cross.

And I'm not a parent either, by the way.

cat4ever

Were you doing 25 to 30 MPH or 15 to 17 MPH?

supcom

The mighty AirZound man puts that kid in his place! Froze him in place like a deer in headlights. With but 8-10 feet to spare! A close call for sure. Did you get an incriminating photo to turn in to the police?

Zinn-X

LOL

this thread is worthless.

bmclaughlin807

HWS

Im 85 miles into a solo century today and some guy was on the MUP on a recumbent with all the flags and other "bling" (if you can call it that), with one of those horns. I shout "on your left", passed him, then a minute later, I hear what sounds like a cat fight behind me. This guy passes me, slows down, I pass him again, the he blows that stupid horn again, and passes me again. I kept going the same speed, passed the guy a third time, and he does it again!

He slows again, I pull up next to him and just pace him for about 3 minutes, and keep looking over at him, not saying a word, then he takes a left off the MUP on a spur.

Putz. :rolleyes:

chephy

If it had been a car instead of me on a bike I think the kid would have been hit. A car would have been going faster & it takes longer for a car to stop. With all due respect to your observations about the father's irresponsible behaviour, I think if it had been a car, the kid would have noticed it and not gone into the road. Cyclists are just harder to notice and their speed is often underestimated. Even I am guilty of this sometimes - and, gee, I am a hard-core cyclist myself!

chipcom

I maintained my speed

COB

Az B

Here in Georgia, the law also clearly states that pedestrians only have the right of way in a crosswalk. In every state and country I've ever had a driver's license in this is the case. Do you think that a motorist should be charged if someone walks across the interstate and is hit? Nope.

The horn may have been a bit much. Most people consider blowing a loud horn to be pretty rude and I'm sure yelling "watch it!" probably would have worked just as well. But hey, whatever works. You bought the horn, I know you want to use it! :)

Az

donnamb

Rights-of-way, rudeness, and all other arguments aside, I couldn't help but think of what my dad's reaction would have been in a situation like that. The yelling would have been directed at me, and followed up with "You're lucky the guy on the bike had a horn loud enough to stop you from doing something stupid. Dummy up!". If the cyclist had been available, I would have been made to apologize to them for my poor judgement. Harsh but effective. I'm not a parent myself, but I don't see much public parental correction of stupid/rude/dangerous behavior and I've wondered why that is.

SamHouston

N_C you made a mistake if you were not braking or prepared to stop entirely before an impact or take evasive action that would put the child completely out of harms way.

Children are entirely unpredictable, an adult, you want to intimidate with your horn to protect your right of way, fine, whatever, adults are somewhat predictable, children are not. Horns are for warning of danger, not protecting right-of-way, but whatever.

It doesn't matter in the least that there was a parent present, you still had a responsibility to ensure the childs safety by slowing or even stopping. If that child had tried at the last moment to make it across, it'd be your ass.

I-Like-To-Bike

These days kids get away with way to much.
Yeah, and you're just the one to set 'em straight, eh? This isn't your first OT post/dissertation about the joy of paddling/punishing children for their own good. Please do the world a favor and don't have any. And stay away from other's children too.

AlmostTrick

^^^The fact that many kids today DO need to be better disciplined has little to do with someone using a horn to prevent an accident. Doing so is not "paddling or punishing" in any way.

San Rensho

Pedestrians do NOT always have the right of way.

This is a very dangerous belief, and leads to many accidents and I'm sure lots of pedestrian deaths.

Colorado law (and I'm sure there are similar laws in a lot of other areas) states that pedestrians shall not leave the sidewalk or other 'safe' area and enter the road in front of a vehicle so close as to be a danger.

^^Correct.

They way I would have handled it was to start verbally warning, from a good distance, and repeat it until I got their attention, that I am riding towards them. Zapping them at the last minute with a train horn is not a good idea.

Communication, early and often, will avoid most problems like this one.

SamHouston

The misconception that pedestrians always have right of way stems, IMO, from the fact that striking a ped with a vehicle is bad mojo regardless of who had RoW. Even if it's a jaywalker, you could be at fault for failing to control your vehicle, depending on what an accident scene or witnesses, or you, tell the police.

Right of ways are established as safety measures, but defending ones RoW is very often a dangerous practice and very often completely useless with regard to the time saved vs. possible consequence.

N_C wouldv'e lost absolutely nothing by passing the jaywalking child at a slower speed or a greater distance or both, and all without sounding a warning (if there was danger, N_C presented the danger but had time to avoid doing so having seen the individual from a distance, if there was no danger there was no reason to sound the horn). All N_C gained was a sense of moral superiority, something I've always thought of as entirely useless to anyone outside of politics. Certainly no injuries or accidents were prevented by the use of N_Cs horn.

Theakston

COB
Children of Bodom?

Blue Order

Children of Bodom?Cager On Bike.

chipcom

Cager On Bike.
Yup

Blue Order

Because some parents are scared of what their kids will do if they punish them the way some of us were punished. My mom had no problem paddeling our asses if we screwed up if the situation warrented it. She would do so in public too. These days parents are afraid to do so. Another adult would go to the authorities about it or the kid would & the kids know this. So some parents are afraid of them. I was raised with a firm hand, I was taught right from wrong at an early age. I was taught not to pull a stunt like this kid did, I was taught not to sass back to my parents or I got smacked for it.

These days parents are either afraid of what their kids or another adult will do if they punish their kids, or because they hated the way they were punished they will not do the same to their kids. So the kids today tend to get away with so much more. All they do to punish a kid these days is maybe a grounding. Most kids don't care about that.

All to often I have seen & heard the way kids act, even with their parents there. A lot of the time the kids are mouthy to their parents. Which shows a serious lack of respect for their elders. The parents do not do anything about it. My wife & I both agree if we acted like that we would have been punished for it on the spot. These days kids get away with way to much.Physical punishment is not the only way to train children. In fact, it's not even thought to be the best way. Children can be taught without the beatings, believe it or not, but if parents were taught through beatings, that's what they know.

maddyfish

I can't fault NC much for any action he took, since there were no injuries in a potentially dangerous situation. There may have been other possible options, but the option he chose worked.

Denny Koll

You're lucky the Dad didn't get a hold of you....you deserved an Airzound enema.

tomcryar

Legal or not, in some parts of the country, it is simply safer to cross away from the intersection. You should have slowed and been prepared.

tomcryar

You're lucky the Dad didn't get a hold of you....you deserved an Airzound enema.

Would that have come with a blueberry muffin?

chemcycle

Airzound prevented serious injury to myself & a jaywalking kid.

Don't you have handle bars?

I-Like-To-Bike

Don't you have handle bars?
Or brakes? or Common Sense. What do you do when a ball rolls into the street ahead of you? Maintain your speed, Blow your horn, and scold any child who must not be getting enough discipline in your opinion?

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